The Earth is hurtling deeper into a climate emergency, with 2026 on track to be one of the four hottest years ever recorded, ocean temperatures and sea levels hitting record highs, and glacier melt accelerating at an alarming pace, according to a report released Monday by the World Meteorological Organization as the United Nations Climate Change Conference kicked off in Türkiye.
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Given the prominence of religious Christian Democrats who rode the blue wave to victory this midterm election, one might be forgiven for questioning whether lawmakers who often ground their politics in their deeply held Christian faith will continue to weaken the crumbing wall of separation between church and state.
But the truth of the matter is much more complicated.
Newly elected senators like James Talarico and Adam Hamilton have a major opportunity — and challenge — when it comes to defending church-state separation. Their task is fraught; they are not only mounting a defense against red state conservatives, not only against the John Roberts Supreme Court, which has worked to dismantle the wall brick by brick, but against Obama-era orthodoxies as well.
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Democrats catch ‘white whale of Texas politics’ with Talarico, Hinojosa wins
November 3, 2026 / 10:07
That Democrats fielded religious candidates isn’t all that new. After all, Black Democrats have historically used their Christian faith to guide their politics. But what’s new here is the emergence in red states of a small cluster of white Democrats who are deeply committed to mainline Protestant traditions and who link their theological convictions to liberal policies — often to remarkable effect. Their views on church and state issues, while still evolving, may mark a break with Democrats’ recent approach to this issue.
Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian, trounced Republican Ken Paxton as Texas turned blue. In Kansas, Methodist megachurch pastor Hamilton defeated GOP incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall. Two ministers in Iowa, one Lutheran (Sarah Trone Garriott) and one Presbyterian (Lindsay James), are now House members-elect. (The Hawkeye State’s incoming governor, Rob Sand, is a Bible-quoting Lutheran layperson.)
Not every
This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Nov. 09, 2026. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.
Rep. Thomas Massie on Monday took to the floor of the US House of Representatives to introduce articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
In introducing the articles, which he first filed in September, the Kentucky Republican said Hegseth has “knowingly executed and implemented unlawful orders” in carrying out President Donald Trump’s illegal war with Iran, which was launched without congressional authorization in February.
“In all of this, Secretary Hegseth has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as secretary of defense, and subversive to constitutional government,” said Massie. “Hegseth, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with his duties and the rule of law.”
Massie: Hegseth knowingly executed and implemented unlawful orders.. Hegseth has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to the constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with his duties and the rule of law. Hegseth thus… pic.twitter.com/qdvzphBPFz— Acyn (@Acyn) November 9, 2026
Because of this, Massie continued, Hegseth “warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.”
Massie then made a detailed case for removing Hegseth, as outlined across eight impeachment articles alleging a wide variety of misconduct and criminality.
The Kentucky Republican argued that, in carrying out Trump’s Iran War, Hegseth violated the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which specified that the president cannot send
In a “60 Minutes” interview that aired on Sunday evening, President Donald Trump admitted that Republicans’ massive defeats in the midterm elections resulted from widespread frustration with the war on Iran, as well as his immigration policies. Reiterating that he “was not on the ballot” — as if to suggest that support would have been higher for him personally — Trump said that Americans…
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The Republican Party’s staggering losses in the November midterm elections have prompted speculation about the future of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, which is overwhelmingly unpopular with voters. Democratic leaders have portrayed President Donald Trump’s military offensive as an unconstitutional fiasco and an economic disaster driving inflation. But their choreographed outrage…
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